UN climate envoys start ‘informal’ Auckland meeting

New Zealand: Top-ranking international climate change negotiators gathered in Auckland Tuesday for a second New Zealand government initiative aimed at injecting “fresh thinking” into the new United Nations climate change agreement. (Xinhua)

UK: The exploitation of shale gas in the UK is likely to increase greenhouse gas emissions without strong global policies to fight climate change, a UK government report says. (RTCC)

Hawaii: The Hawaii-based clean energy nonprofit Blue Planet Foundation said Monday that Hawaii receives an overall grade of “C-minus” as part of its first annual Energy Report Card for the state. (Pacific Business News)

Borneo: Nearly two-thirds of villagers surveyed across rainforests in Indonesian and Malaysian Borneo are against large-scale deforestation due to the adverse impacts on livelihoods and the environment, finds a comprehensive new study across 185 communities. (Monga Bay)

Australia: A large grass fire could threaten homes in Sydney’s west as the temperature soars past 30 degrees, firefighters say. (Sydney Morning Herald)

IPCC: The strongest scientific warning to date that global warming is man-made may have a muted impact when it is released later this month with many governments more focused on nursing weak economies than on fixing the planet. (Planet Ark)

Tanzania: Over 100 women in Arusha, most of them engaged in small-scale farming have received training on ways to deal with the challenge of climate change. (IPP Media)

Technology: Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated a new mechanism for extracting energy from light, a finding that could improve technologies for generating electricity from solar energy and lead to more efficient optoelectronic devices used in communications. (Science Daily)